The invention relates to a method for closing bottles with sterile caps in which method caps supplied to a transfer device along a transport path are sterilized and subsequently placed onto bottles with their interior facing downwardly.
The invention further relates to a machine for sterile closing of bottles with caps, with which machine the caps are picked up from an individualization device having a transport path, are sterilized in the area of at least one sterile chamber, are placed under sterile conditions onto horizontally supplied bottles, and the bottles are closed by a closing device.
In a method for closing bottles disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,472 B1, the caps are supplied along a transport path to a sterile area and subsequently sterilization is realized in a transfer device that is completely arranged within a sterile chamber. The caps picked up individually by means of a rotary machine are pivoted within the sterile chamber so that their interior faces downwardly and placed onto the bottles such that the bottles can be closed subsequently by means of a closure member.
In the field of food product packaging several methods are known in which screw caps after sterilization are picked up by an appropriate screwing device, are moved into the area of the bottle supply, and are screwed onto the bottles.
For sterilizing caps, bottles, containers or similar transport means, methods using hydrogen peroxide are known in order to subsequently fill under aseptic conditions food or the like into containers that have been sterilized externally. Filled bottles are subsequently closed sterilely with an aluminum seal and, outside of the filling machine, the caps are applied in a subsequent method step. Such filling and closing machines are divided with regard to their construction into rotary machines and linear machines that may be provided with a sealing function or a screw-closure function. In the case of a screw-closure function in known machines, the caps are sterilized by means of peracetic acid in a sterilization bath; however, this entails the risk that lubricants contained within the cap are washed out so that later on opening of the bottle is made more difficult. Other methods employ hydrogen peroxide aerosols for sterilization (U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,472 B1) wherein the caps are exposed to a gas atmosphere that is saturated with hydrogen peroxide. These methods are carried out continuously with rotary machines.